End of the Road
by DarkPhoenixAscending
Summary: Harry/Draco slash. Ignores epilogue. So much has happened since Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, and everyone is just trying to move on with their lives. Ginny knows she needs to end things with Harry. But how will he take the news? Oneshot. Complete.


**Title:** End of the Road

**Author: **Dark Phoenix

**Summary:** So much has happened since Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, and everyone is just trying to move on with their lives. Ginny knows she needs to end things with Harry. But how will he take the news?

**Pairings:** Ginny/Neville, Harry/Draco

**Warning:** Brief smut.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter and am making no money from this.

**Note:** Even though I lowkey ship Neville/Luna, I recently read a fic with a Neville/Ginny pairing, for a lot of the reasons given in this fic, and it made a lot of sense. So that's who Ginny gets to be with for the moment.

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**~ End of the Road ~**

It was now or never.

Ginny took a deep breath and opened the door. She knew that Harry was studying at one of the desks in a corner of the eighth-years' common room. It had been a bit of a surprise to see him sitting there when she and Neville had come through a few minutes earlier. He'd been so elusive since the beginning of term, she knew she had to take the opportunity to talk while she still had it.

Ever since they'd come back to Hogwarts, Harry had taken to disappearing for hours at a time and not telling anyone where he'd been. Even Hermione had given up trying to ask. It didn't surprise Ginny much, as he'd been withdrawn all summer, and they'd barely spoken a word to each other. She sympathized with whatever he was going through, she really did, but she also had to be honest that things weren't the same between them anymore, and his silence only served as proof of that.

So much had happened in that year they'd been apart, to Harry, but to her, too. It had been so incredibly difficult not knowing what was going on, whether he was even still alive or not. And the Carrows' takeover of Hogwarts hadn't helped. In between worrying about Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she'd still had to take care of herself. That whole year had been a nightmare in every way possible. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she'd spent most nights crying herself to sleep. Most of her time had been spent hiding out in the Room of Requirement with the others, plotting against the Carrows when they could and trying to keep one another from breaking down completely.

And Neville had always been there.

It wasn't as though anything had happened. Neville's loyalty to his friends was every bit as strong as his determination to fight the Death Eaters. But they'd spent many long evenings together, talking, studying, and worrying, and generally getting to know one another extremely well. And she'd realized, even before she and Harry had been reunited, that they couldn't possibly go back to what they'd been before.

She had known that, and after the battle had ended, it had become clearer than ever, and now she had a chance to do something about it.

Harry was still hidden away in his corner, buried in one of his textbooks. Ginny tried to make some noise as she approached, so she wouldn't startle him. Even so, when she cleared her throat to get his attention, he looked up at her sharply, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hi, Harry," she said a bit awkwardly.

"Ginny! Hi!" he answered. His voice was overly, falsely cheerful, and a bit strangled-sounding. Ginny wondered if he'd been sitting there brooding rather than studying. Maybe it was good that she'd interrupted.

"Um, can I talk to you for a minute?" she said.

Harry hesitated. There wasn't another chair nearby, and the look he was giving her suggested he really didn't want to talk any longer than necessary.

"It won't take long," Ginny reassured him.

He glanced down at his lap, then back up at her. "Fine."

Well, it was the most cooperative he'd been all year. Ginny let out a short breath. Might as well get this over with.

"Look, Harry, I care for you a lot," she said. "But I love you more like a _brother_, you know?" She dropped her gaze to the floor, mentally kicking herself. Could she be more awkward?

A strange sound made her look back up. Harry was staring fixedly down at the desk, and she noticed that his hands were gripping the edge of it so hard that his knuckles were white. Ginny cursed inwardly. She hadn't expected him to take it so hard.

"I'm really sorry," she said in a rush, laying her hand on his. "But things have been so different since last year. We've both become different people. We don't fit anymore."

Harry met her eyes with a slight grimace. "I understand, Ginny," he said. His voice was low and still sounded a bit odd.

_He's always been so brave,_ Ginny thought fondly. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I really do care for you, you know," she said. "You're a wonderful guy. You're funny, brave, kind, loyal, so many great things. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

He made another strange sound, and raised one hand to rest his chin on it, covering his mouth. Probably to help him contain his reaction, Ginny thought.

"Thank you," he said. "That's very sweet of you."

Ginny squeezed the hand she was still holding. "I really mean it," she said. "I wish things could've worked out between us, but we've both changed so much, and—"

"It's all right," Harry interrupted, sounding much more normal. "Really, I get it. I've changed a lot, too, and it hasn't been working for me, either. You don't have to worry about me — I'll be fine, I promise." He even managed a sad smile, and Ginny's heart melted.

Her eyes prickled at the thought of how incredibly strong and brave he could be, and she smiled tearfully. "Of course you will," she said encouragingly. "You're Harry Potter! I bet there are hundreds of girls just waiting for you to ask them out. You deserve to be happy, more than anyone. And you _will_ be. I know it."

Once again, a strange, half-gasping sound erupted from Harry, and he ground his knuckles hard against his lips, his face flushing. His eyes closed briefly, and he let out a long breath.

_He's trying so hard to keep it together,_ Ginny thought with pride. _I should go and let him have his dignity._ She gave his hand another squeeze and murmured, "Hang in there," before heading back to Neville's room.

Neville was sitting on the bed, but he jumped to his feet the moment Ginny opened the door, looking at her anxiously. "How did he take it?"

Ginny sighed sadly. "Pretty hard," she said. "He was trying so hard to contain his emotions." She sank down on the bed. "I feel so bad."

Neville sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "It would've been worse to keep leading him on," he said. "This is the best thing for both of you. You did the right thing."

"Yeah." Ginny closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. "He was so incredibly brave about the whole thing. I just hope he can move on and find someone new."

* * *

As soon as Ginny left, Harry dropped his head into his hands with a groan. Beneath the desk, Draco pulled his mouth off Harry's cock with a loud popping sound and pushed back the hood of the invisibility cloak.

"What was that all about?"

"I think Ginny just broke up with me."

Draco started to laugh. Harry frowned down at him, but there wasn't much heat behind it. He felt the loss of Draco's warm, wet mouth too keenly to care about much else just then.

"What? Did you still _want_ to be dating the Weaselette and shagging me on the side? You? The Golden Boy? What would people _say?"_ He started laughing again.

"We weren't even dating," Harry said, wondering why he was even bothering to explain. "We were going to get back together, but never really did."

"Then what the hell was she on about?"

Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I think she was telling me that she didn't want to get back together again. I don't know." All this time, he'd thought that was obvious. He'd been so angry and upset after the final battle that he hadn't wanted to be around anyone, much less think about dating. And then school had started again, and this thing with Draco had just happened. Harry still wasn't entirely sure how. He vaguely remembered one of their famous arguments escalating into something that seemed to be both fighting and kissing, and had ended in sex. Since then, he'd spent every spare minute with Draco "relieving stress" until they'd both been forced to admit that it might be something more than that.

His thoughts were interrupted by Draco's tongue running down the length of his still-hard cock, and he let out a shuddering breath.

Seeing he had Harry's attention, Draco smirked. "So now you have the Weaselette's blessing," he said. "What do you want to do next, announce your new relationship to all your friends? It _would_ be fun to see the Weasel's reaction to it." He rubbed his palms together, his eyes gleaming.

"One thing at a time," said Harry, not bothering to correct him — he _did_ want Draco to finish the job. "I believe you wanted to shag on Slughorn's desk at least once before we announce this to the world."

Draco smiled. "Aww, you remembered," he said, pretending to be touched. He lowered his head and once again took Harry's entire length into his mouth, pulling the invisibility cloak back over his head. Harry threw back his head and let himself enjoy the sensations. He couldn't help smiling as he thought about how earnest Ginny had been. Of course, he knew he and Draco had risked being interrupted when they'd come to the common room earlier, but that was the last thing he'd expected. Somehow, officially ending things with her made everything even better. As Harry began to reach his climax, he felt as though everything in his life was finally going right.

_**~ fin ~**_

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Note: I probably could've labeled this as "Humor," but I didn't want to give anything away. Thanks for reading and/or reviewing!


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